Wednesday, July 8, 2015


USC, National Academy of Engineering Ties With TV Series Creator To Find Female
Can a TV show convince more females to pursue an education and career in engineering and science? A new effort, driven by the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), and Lee Zlotoff, the creator of MacGyver, is hoping to create a new TV series--called "The Next MacGyver"--which will star and feature stories about women engineers. The group has been running a contest--with finals at the end of July--to help surface ideas for that TV series. The group says it (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, July 8, 2015(Full story)

MaintenanceNet Acquired By Cisco For $139M
Carlsbad-based MaintenanceNet has been acquired by Cisco, in a deal worth $139M, Cisco said late Tuesday. MaintenanceNet develops cloud-based software used by companies to manage the renewal of service contracts and maintenance contracts, automatically handling quoting, notifications, and also online renewals. Cisco said the move would help it partners capture high-volume and low-dollar sales opportunities that may risk being overlooked. MaintenanceNet is led by Scott Herron. The company had rai (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, July 8, 2015(Full story)

YouTube Star PewDiePie Earned $7M In 2014
In what helps prove the increasing importance of content on YouTube, popular Youtuber PewDiePie revealed this week that he earned more than $7M in 2014, thanks to payouts from YouTube. Hard numbers and information on YouTube payouts are hard to come by--thanks to the site's terms and conditions to creators--but PewDiePie's revelation should be welcome news to the legions of aspiring YouTubers in Los Angeles now creating content for the video site. PewDiePie's content revolves around video (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, July 8, 2015(Full story)

Hulu Adds SHOWTIME Via Subscription Option
Los Angeles-based streaming television site Hulu said Tuesday that it has added a new, subscription option to access SHOWTIME, as part of its premium video service. Hulu said that, for $8.99 per month--on top of its existing, $7.99 per month subscription--its viewers will have full access to both on-demand SHOWTIME shows, as well as access to both the East and West Coast live feeds of the cable channel. None of the terms of the deal between Hulu and SHOWTIME were announced.
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Newegg Dangles $16K To Students As It Kicks Off Back To School Season
Los Angeles-based online e-commerce retailer NewEgg is (already) kicking off its back to school sales, saying today that it has launched a new contest to award $16K to students--plus launched a new "student only" store on its website. NewEgg said it has launched a new Hack2School Challenge which will provider more than $16K in prizes to students for submitting their "college hacks", using technology to improve the college experience. NewEgg also said it would offer up discounts to its "Premier" (More info...)
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DEKRA Insight Acquires Optimus Seventh Generation
Oxnard-based DEKRA Insight, a consulting, testing, and advisory firm focused on process safety, said today that it has acquired Optimus Seventh Generation Ltd.. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Optimus Seventh Generation Ltd. is based in Aberdeen, Scotland, and offers up safety consulting to industry. DEKRA Insight said the acquisition boosts its workforce to over 550 people.
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Resonant Adds To Board
Santa Barbara-based Resonant inc., which is developing front end radio frequency filters, said it has added Dr. Thomas R. Joseph to its board of directors. Joseph was previously Senior Manager Technical Products at RFMD (Qorvo), until he recently retired, and also had served at Hughes Aircraft Company, and TRW Space and Defense. The company said that Joseph is an expert on SAW (Surface Acoustic Wave) resonators, which is the technology that Resonant's products are based upon. Resonant is targeti (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, July 8, 2015(Full story)

Kayne Anderson Backs Language Access Network
Los Angeles-based private equity investor Kayne Partners, the growth private equity arm of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, said Tuesday that it made an investment in Language Access Network (LAN), a Columbus, Ohio-based provider of on-demand, video interpretation services. Financial details of the investment were not disclosed. Language Access Nework serves the healthcare industry, by providing video interpretation services for patients who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have limited English ski (More info...)
posted on Wednesday, July 8, 2015(Full story)